HOLYCRAPWEHAVEAKID
by Greyshield
Summary: Of course she was happy for Hinata, Tenten thought as she peered into the cradle at the light-haired Hyuuga child. However, one thought nagged at her mind; was scarred on her husband's forehead. What would become of her own child?
1. Chapter 1

In the early hours of the morning, a small, pale form walked alone in the corridors of the Hyuuga compound. It was dark, but the slender child, with his dark, wavy locks and milky-white Byakugan eyes was not afraid. He walked slowly, trailing one delicate finger along the wall, feeling his way down the corridor.

"Ichiru." Another ghostly figure had materialized around the corner, in front of the boy. The child gazed through darkness towards the end of the corridor, from whence the voice had come. He could make out a pale, broad shouldered shape. His father.

Neji Hyuuga reached his son in a few short strides. He scooped him up, his tiny weight barely a burden to the muscular man.

"Your mother is worried about you." Neji's words did not faze the boy. He lightly traced the veins that stood out on his father's face, knowing that he had used the Byakugan to locate him.

"I can do that, too," Ichiru said, and activated his Byakugan. Neji shivered under his boy's gossamer touch. He also noticed, that as Ichiru activated his Byakugan, the air around them became disquieted, as though a breeze had blown suddenly through one of the open windows.

"Come on," Neji said, "Let's get you out of this draft." Ichiru simply leaned his head against his father's shoulder, submissively, and played with the ends of Neji's long hair.

By the time they had reached Ichiru's bedroom, the boy appeared to be half asleep. However, Neji knew that his son was more alert than he seemed, because his Byakugan was still activated.

He sat his son on the edge of his bed and knelt down to his eye level. He took one of Ichiru's hands and gazed earnestly into his pale, angelic face for a few moments. Yes, there was nothing like having a child.

"Time for bed," Neji said finally.

"My shirt…" Ichiru mumbled, his words slurred. Neji removed his child's small white shirt, taking care with the buttons, then pulled back the satin sheets. Ichiru didn't bother with his black sweatpants; they were soft enough, and it was only sleeping with shirts on that bothered him.

"You won't need Byakugan asleep." Neji reminded him. Ichiru nodded solemnly, or perhaps sleepily—it was hard to tell—and the veins on his face shrank back down to normal size. Then he fell back against the soft pillows, the satin caressing his unmarked skin.

As Ichiru discontinued his Byakugan, his body gave a small shudder. Neji could almost feel his son's chakra settling down. He wondered if the great power coursing through Ichiru's veins, his very lifeblood, was difficult for his small body to vessel. Ichiru was another prodigy; like his father, he held an immense power.

Neji stepped out of Ichiru's bedroom and leaned against the wall. With his Byakugan, he watched the boy sleep. Ichiru would be awake again in a few hours, most likely; his sleeping patterns were unusual. Further away, but still within the range of his Byakugan, Tenten lay awake, waiting for him. Neji made for his bedroom, pushing his musings from his mind.

"How is he?" Tenten asked, as Neji slid beneath the bedcover beside her.

"Fine," Was Neji's placid reply. "Delusional walking of the halls, as usual." He wrapped his arms around her, and she pressed close to him and sighed, absorbing the heat from his body. _There is little as wonderful as having a child, but I think there are some comparisons…_

**Next Day**

"Come, now, Ichiru. Throw the shuriken." Neji commanded as they practiced on the training field. Ichiru, normally an obedient child, hesitated. His accuracy was 100%, the inherited ability of his mother, Tenten.

"Throw it, Ichiru, and I'll show you what I can do." Neji said, encouragingly. "Make it your goal to hit me."

Ichiru drew several shuriken, motivated by his father's words. Swiftly and accurately he threw them, aiming for vital points on his father. Neji obviously had something big in store for him today, so why not go all out? After all, it wasn't every day that he could learn a new technique, although he tried to.

Neji stayed perfectly still as the shuriken came toward him, and another volley behind that. Then, in the blink of an eye, he repelled them all using just his chakra; turning and blocking with a skill beyond nearly everyone in Konohagakure. Ichiru stopped throwing, entranced by his father's graceful and yet effective blocking technique. When the shuriken stopped, so did Neji.

"What, you give up already?" he asked. Ichiru smiled slightly and then pulled out more shuriken, determination on his face.

**Later**

Ichiru and Neji came in for lunch, both of them tired, but smiling. "How was training?" Tenten asked her son.

"Father showed me his defensive abilities. I tried again and again, but his defense is perfect, with no weaknesses."

"At least, not until he runs out of chakra," Tenten put in, giving her husband a knowing smile.

"That's how he got me here," Neji said, showing her a fresh shoulder wound. "I was thinking about stopping by Uchiha's, so Sakura-chan could work some of her healing arts on me." He took a dumpling and bit into it, then passed the tray to Ichiru.

"Mother, may I go for ramen this evening with Uncle and Hinata-san?" Ichiru asked politely. Tenten laughed. "I can't believe she puts up with ramen every night….."

"Their bonds run deep, I suppose," Neji answered, amused.

"Yes, it's sweet," she replied, "But if you ever made me do something like that, I'd kick your butt."

Ichiru's eye's widened as Neji laughed. "Mother, you can defeat Father?" he asked.

Tenten thought a moment. "Well, I suppose not if he was trying, but he loves me too much to hurt me. That or I could always get Lee to try…he'd be quite willing, I believe. In any case, I could always find some way to get back at him. Come to think of it, a surprise attack might work if I timed it right…"

The two males shrugged and left Tenten to her battle strategies for the next few minutes, and then Ichiru tried his question again. "So, Mother, may I?" he asked, and she could not resist the way the streaming sunlight lit his chillingly milky eyes set in soft marble-white skin, or how his lower lip puckered slightly, and his pleading face was set and working. Not that she would have declined; she trusted Hinata and her suitor with all her heart. Not to mention Ichiru was just so darn irresistible already, and he never was rebellious openly.

"Well…okay. But make sure you aren't out too late, and have fun. Put on a clean shirt, too." Ichiru's pleading face broke into a wide grin at this, and he attacked his food more vigorously, as though it would make that evening come faster. "I will" he responded to his mother's concerns between mouthfuls.

**That Evening**

Ichiru waited impatiently at the door for his "uncle," who wasn't really his uncle, but had simply been courting Neji's cousin Hinata since Ichiru was very small. Their relationship was that of an uncle and nephew, but there was no such existing blood or marital bond. Finally, two figures could be seen walking up the path, one a dainty looking young woman, and the other a tall blond in orange, proudly sporting his forehead protector with the symbol of Konohagakure on it.

Ichiru wanted a headband like that, one day. Both his parents had one, and so did his aunt. In fact, many of his family members did. It signified the fact that they were shinobi of Konoha. Shikamaru sensei said that he would get one when he graduated from the academy, like all of the others. At age nine, it would probably be about four years until he graduated from the academy; until he became a genin level shinobi. To a young boy, that seemed like forever.

"Naruto-san, Hinata-san!" the boy called in greeting. Upon reaching them he bowed, and with his head still down, he said, "Thank you for inviting me to share dinner with you today." Naruto grinned amiably and held out his arms.

"Come here and give me a proper greeting!" he said sternly. Ichiru smiled at his uncle's false act, and ran into the open arms. After Naruto had swung him in the air a bit and given him a big bear hug, he released the boy, who then embraced his aunt more gently; she was a small woman.

"Goodbye!" Ichiru called, waving to his parents. Neji and Tenten waved in return and went in for their own dinner, a romantic meal for two that Tenten had prepared. She had thought of roses, candlelight, wine; the works.

The evening, for Ichiru, went smoothly, his uncle joking and laughing and his aunt blushing at intervals and asking him how his mother was. Finally, at the evening's closure, when Hinata was in the ladies' room, Naruto pulled Ichiru aside to tell him the truth.

"Alright, little man, there's something I want to do tonight; something big. I, uh…..I'm going to ask your aunt Hinata to marry me."

**you incredible people should all review so Kira-sama doesn't have to use his notebook. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

Ichiru's pale eyes widened. "You're going to..."

Naruto nodded solemnly. "I figured the time was about right, so, tonight after we drop you off, I'm going to take her out to that little bridge in the garden, just past the willow trees, and get down on one knee..." Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Ichiru's eyes were downcast, and Naruto wondered if he'd said something wrong. Suddenly, the boy looked up with a mischievous glint in his eyes, akin to that which Naruto had often carried as a child. "It's about time, then, isn't it?" he asked.

Naruto was taken aback. "Why then, you little..." He ruffled Ichiru's hair affectionately and put both hands on his shoulders. "You'll be cheering me on then, won't you?" He asked. "I brought you along tonight because I knew I'd need somebody on my side when I popped the question."

Ichiru nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, that's where Hizashi Jii-san asked Obaa-san to marry him," He informed. Naruto looked pleased.

"Wasn't their marraige arranged?" He asked.

"Who says they didn't love each other?" Ichiru retorted, shrugging. "Couldn't Jii-chan have decided you were fit to marry his daughter?"

Naruto thought on it. "I guess you're right," he answered. "C'mon, she'll be returning any minute. Act natural."

"Not a problem," Ichiru answered, putting on his best game face as Hinata emerged from the bathroom.

**Later**

"Goodbye, Naruto-san; Hinata-san! Good luck!" Ichiru called from the door of his house, after they'd dropped him off. Hinata looked at Naruto questioningly, but he merely waved away Ichiru's comment and saluted him as he left.

Ichiru grabbed both of his parents and dragged them upstairs to his bedroom. "Come quickly!" He cried. "We'll get the best view from up here!"

Neji and Tenten followed their son questioningly.

"Oh no...it's so dark..." Ichiru muttered, disappointedly, after he'd thrown open his bedroom window.

"Can't you use your Byakugan for whatever it is you're trying to see?" Tenten asked. Neji was so curious, his was already activated. He looked surprised, then a warm smile spread across his face.

"He wants you to see it, too." Neji placed a hand in the small of his wife's back. "The trees would get in the way anyways, Son." Ichiru's disappointment turned into a huge grin as he activated his Byakugan.

"Just a few more minutes..." The boy whispered, staring intently out into the blue moonlight.

Suddenly, a shrill scream broke the silence, followed by a joyful yelp.

"What on earth?" Tenten asked. "Is everything OK?"

"It would seem Ichiru has a new uncle," Neji said, smiling. Tenten's face lit up and she clung to her husband, bubbling over with excitement.

* * *

"A wedding! Can you imagine it?" Tenten had been positively overjoyed since the other day. She made both her husband and her son relate to her, over and over, the details of the proposal on the bridge.

Naruto, in a fantastic feat of romanticism, had dropped down on one knee in the starlight; a perfect breeze whispering about their shoulders, and taken Hinata's hand. Softly he'd whispered whatever it was he'd said in order to propose as Hinata's heart hammered like a hummingbird"s. When Naruto pulled out the ring, he placed a hand on the small of her back to steady her, knowing her tendency to faint. He placed the band on her finger, the diamond and complimenting sapphires gleaming as though they themselves had been fashioned from the cool brightness of the stars above. She all but fell into his arms, shrieking in a sudden burst of joy. Naruto whooped, further disturbing the silence, as he spun his girl around. In the starlight, they kissed, then went to Hinata's private home to spend the next several hours discussing the coming wedding over tea and joyful exclamations.

Personally, Neji was amazed that Konoha's noble orange idiot had managed to be anything near romantic, much less marry into a kekkei genkai family. However, Ichiru seemed to be entirely unsurprised by his uncle's capability. Tenten couldn't wait to congratulate Hinata; however, it was only prudent to wait until the couple chose to reveal their engagement to the family.

A day passed. Another day. On the third day, Tenten practically kicked down the large oaken door to Hinata's home, bearing gifts and congratulations for the reserved young woman; alas, she had not been able to wait any longer.

What followed was a grand dinner hosted by Hinata and Naruto, during which the two formally announced their engagement. Naruto was promptly (and neatly) moved from his apartment into a temporary bachelor's residence on the Hyuuga estate by all of the cousins, where preparations for the wedding could be made more easily. The couple was formally chaperoned and surrounded with close friends and family 24/7. It was overwhelming...but, as Tenten had learned, that was what one should expect upon the occasion of a Hyuuga wedding.


End file.
